A Man for All Reasons

Whittle It a Little, It’ll Fit

Odds and sods I look at regularly, just because they amuse me. I hope they do the same for you. Incidentally, I found this page’s title on Greg Ross’s Futility Closet (it’s somewhere on this page) in a mini-article which also includes the delightful sentence in Icelandic: Barbara Ara bar Ara araba bara rabbabara. Ross points out that this, “besides being fun to say, is spelled with only three letters. It means “Barbara, daughter of Ari, brought only rhubarb to Ari the Arab.”

Last year, I got a $500 ticket for going through a red light. It came in the mail with a grainy photo and video of me driving, clearly in violation of the law. My wife and kid were in the car and we all look like we’re having a good ol’ time singing Sesame Street or something. When I got … [Link]

LOS ANGELES—CBS executives announced Friday they have ordered a full season of a new show called Loose Ends, a situation comedy about a buttoned-down NFL tight end known for his blocking ability who lives in a condo with his brash young teamm… [Link]

Reader Brit asks: “Is there any rhyme or reason to calling a road an avenue, a boulevard, a street or a lane? Is it just at the discretion of whoever names the street?” Street sign via Shutterstock Although both terms are often applied to the same thing, a road is different from a street, at least in theory. Looking at … [Link]

Each week Miss Kathleen provides links to a variety of stories about libraries, authors, and books. If there’s something noteworthy going on in your local library, leave us a comment! Good news, guys: Watching Downton Abbey counts as reading a book. Phew! Don’t you all just love that “book”? * I know there are lots of dog-loving readers out there. Do … [Link]

I just relistened to Frank Zappa's 1971 album, Live at the Fillmore East, or, Freaks & Motherfu*#@%! for the first time in about 40 years, and marveled again at the visionary talents of this supreme musical weirdo. Of course, Zappa died too young at age 52, and we were deprived of many potential years of his music.

On Fridays, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. On to this week’s topics of discussion… 1.What was your favorite magazine as a kid? Your tastes obviously changed as you kept growing, so feel free to give a few answers … [Link]

Today, I took my grandmother for a spin in my new car. Apparently, she had no idea that seat-warmers exist and that hers was turned on, because fifteen minutes into the ride she started shouting, "My ass is on fire!" causing me to swerve into a pole. FML [Link]

“YOUR NAME HERE Presents: My TED Talk that you have no idea what the subject is and depending on the content could ultimately blow up in your face especially if I make you or your company look stupid for doing it — that being said, it’s a very good media opportunity.” This was director Morgan Spurlock’s (Super Size Me) pitch … [Link]

In January 2012, the newly launched weather satellite NPP Suomi had gathered enough swaths of data to cover the entire Earth. To commemorate this, the mission team assembled this into a map and projected it over the globe: NPP’s “Blue Marble,” western hemisphere, data acquired from about 824km altitude It’s a synthetic view; NPP flies too close to ever see … [Link]

You hear the term all the time, but is there really anything special about grand juries? Not on the surface. Like a regular trial jury, a grand jury is selected and sworn in by a court, and are often, in fact, pulled from the same pool of people as trial jurors. The job of a grand jury is a little … [Link]

NEW YORK—As the Jeremy Lin phenomenon continues to lift hopes and spirits among the Knicks faithful and basketball fans nationwide, team doctors are doing everything they can to maintain the unusually high level of morale by painstakingly and method… [Link]

I don’t know who first observed this — the design of Norway’s flag contains those of six other countries: The similarities are apparently accidental — designer Fredrik Meltzer had chosen the Nordic cross to reflect his nation’s ties with Denmark and Sweden and the tricolor to evoke the liberal ideals of France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United … [Link]

Man Suffers Heart Attack at Heart Attack Grill The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas is a themed restaurant that serves large-serving high-calorie cuisine. It even offers free food for those who weigh over 350 pounds. The staff dress up as nurses and emergency workers, but they had to call the real paramedics last Saturday night. A customer was eating … [Link]

Price is Right fans should be familiar with the long-running Clock Game, where players are required to guess the prices of two items within 30 seconds by being told if the actual price is “higher” or “lower” than their guesses. It’s maddening to see a contestant who performs badly at the Clock Game, since the strategy isn’t too hard to … [Link]

Photos of Carnival in Lucerne, Switzerland might give you nightmares. Or it might make you want to book tickets! * Court records show that Chicago is the most corrupt city in the U.S. Los Angeles and New York follow. * The top-selling DVDs of 2012 (so far) tell us something like people don’t want to buy DVDs anymore. Unless they … [Link]

Batman, the TV series, made its debut as one of TV’s first mid-season replacements on January 12, 1966. Featuring Adam West in the lead role and Burt Ward as Robin, his co-crime fighter, the show became a breakout hit.

Batman was everywhere, and the show quickly developed into the biggest marketing campaign in television history up to that time. Not only … [Link]

Today, my boyfriend and I were getting frisky in bed. He mumbled something that sounded like "I love you." I replied "I love you too baby", to which he laughed then said, "I said I wanted you to blow me." FML [Link]

An English statistician has recently been engaged in an original task, that of studying the influence of music on the hair. … While stringed instruments prevent and check the falling out of the hair, brass instruments have the most injurious effects upon it. The piano and the violin, especially the piano, have an undoubted preserving influence. The violoncello, the harp, … [Link]

Today, while working as a receptionist at a health clinic a woman came to settle her account. Before she left, she held out her closed palm and asked if I could put something in the bin for her. I held out my hand and watched many bits of chewed fingernails land in my palm. FML [Link]

Welcome to the Thursday night Late Movies, loyal _flossers! It’s time, once again, for GUESS THE THEME. All the clips below have something in common. Leave your best guesses in the comments. Led Zeppelin – Ramble On Counting Crows – Rain King The Police – Don’t Stand So Close To Me The Hold Steady – Stuck Between Stations [Link]

Today, after finally getting my newborn baby to sleep, I made a sign to put on the door asking people not to knock or ring the bell, since our 3 dogs will bark loudly and wake the baby. When I went to print the sign, my dogs barked like crazy at the sound of the printer. FML [Link]